'And Bunny and I just happened to get in the way, hmm?'
Elizabeth was momentarily distracted from her distressing situation. 'Bunny?' she repeated incredulously.
He shrugged impatiently. 'A nickname.'
'And a very appropriate one, too, I would guess,' muttered Elizabeth cuttingly.
'If you mean that she's cute and soft and cuddly, I'd agree with you,' he replied smoothly. 'But I doubt whether your jealous remark was supposed to be complimentary.'
'Jealous? Why should I be jealous?' Elizabeth's eyes were violet with contempt.
He shrugged again, a fluid movement of his shoulders that sent echoing ripples through the muscles of his arms and chest. 'Maybe you envy her her lack of inhibitions about her body-'
'I'm not inhibited,' she lied. 'Just because I don’t choose to flaunt my body at every passing male-'
'Oh, nobody could accuse you of doing that, chérie. Your skin is still as pale and delicate as it was when you arrived. You only shed that cover-up when you go in to swim and you don’t do that very often in spite of the fact you seem to be something of a water-baby.'
A frisson of unease passed through her. Had she been so busy pretending not to watch him that she hadn’t noticed him watching her?
'I don’t see any point in going home from a holiday burnt to a crisp, and I'm here to relax, not exhaust myself by swimming marathons.'
'So why aren’t you relaxed?' His thumb wandered over her pounding pulse, his eyes wandering over her tense face.
'People relax in different ways,' she said feebly.
'Your way is certainly very different. You're always on the move, aren’t you, flitting here and there, taking endless photographs, early to rise and in the casino until the wee hours-?'
'I like being busy!' The irony was that her busyness only reflected his.
'Especially in my vicinity.'
'Look, Mr Hawkwood-'
'It's a bit late for that, Beth-'
'Jack, then. If you'll let me go I'll explain-'
'You'll explain anyway,' he said pleasantly. Without taking his eyes off hers he leaned back and picked up her camera, weighing it in his hand. 'Had any of your film developed yet? I can arrange to have it done for you at a generous discount...'
Elizabeth swallowed. 'No. I'd rather wait until I get home—it's more fun to get the prints done after a holiday is over...'
His eyelids concealed the change of expression in his eyes. 'Of course it is. I just thought that if the photo of Bunny and me was good she might like to have a print...'
'I'm not sure whether I got her in the shot at all, since I was actually framing it much higher, around the two yachts out by the point where the bougainvillaeas are growing,' Elizabeth improvised wildly.
'Mmm.' That enigmatic sound was beginning to get on her nerves.
'May I get up now?' she asked meekly.
In answer he lifted her captured wrist and brushed his lips against the pale marks left by his fingers. 'If you would, I'd appreciate the help.'
'Help?' Unconsciously she rubbed away the kiss as she got slowly to her feet, feeling the threat of pins and needles in her calves, which had been cramped under her for so long.
His mouth pulled sardonically at one corner.
'I'm not as nimble as I used to be in my reckless youth.'
'Forty isn’t old,' Elizabeth told him unsympathetically, ignoring the hand he held out, adding an extra two years as a jab at his male vanity.